Working on the Vision for People-Centered Technology

Chris Lee, CIO, City of Lewisville

When Chris Lee packed his bags for Texas in 1997, he was chasing a degree and a hunch. The degree was in business computer information systems at the University of North Texas. The hunch was that his enjoyment of business concepts and his fondness for computer games might somehow blend into a career worth pursuing. At the time, that seemed like a thin connection.

What Lee could not have predicted was that the path would lead to a decades-long tenure with the City of Lewisville, culminating in his role as Chief Information Officer.

Lee’s academic years revealed that his instincts were partly right. He did enjoy the business curriculum, but what truly captured his interest was the technical rigor that came with the STEM side of his degree. That combination of business acumen and technological curiosity would become the foundation for his professional life.

In his senior year, opportunity came calling in the form of an internship with the City of Lewisville. Lee remembers being only the third or fourth intern the city had hired for such a role. The position immersed him in a production environment where he could apply his classroom skills to realworld scenarios.

“It was like a treasure trove of technology! I couldn’t believe I was getting to work with these seriously cool solutions,” he recalls.

His work revolved around hardware, building servers, managing storage, and setting up infrastructure. For an introvert who relished problem-solving and technical challenges, it was an ideal beginning.

When Lee graduated, the city offered him a full-time position as a systems engineer. In that role, he could spend his days working with technology, without much need for interaction beyond the technical team. That suited him just fine, at least for a while.

Two years in, his career took a sharp turn. His then-director approached him with an opportunity to serve as public safety administrator during a major technology transition in 2001, moving from an Unix-based system to a Windows-based platform. At first, Lee resisted. He suspected he was being placed in a difficult situation where an implementation was faltering, and he disliked the idea of being forced into a role that required more direct engagement with people.

But the experience proved transformative. It taught him that technology is a mechanism, and that the soft skills, such as empathy, communication, and adaptability, are often what make technology successful in real-world settings.

“That was one of the pivotal times in my career,” he says. “The technology aspect is a tool, but the soft skills are the game changers.”

“I’m not on the field anymore but I’m coaching. Success now is seeing the team identify problems, tackle challenges, and deliver solutions that make a difference for the community”

The shift also deepened his sense of public service. Four years later, he was still with the city, now firmly committed to its mission of enriching the lives of its residents. He was promoted to Technology Operations Manager, overseeing the very internship program through which he had entered. The role expanded his responsibilities to include networking, systems, and all of IT operations. It also marked his first foray into management, bringing budgeting and administrative duties into the mix.

Over the next seven years, Lee transitioned from leading systems to leading people. When his director retired, city management tapped him for the top technology leadership role. Several years later, his position was reclassified to Chief Information Officer. The role today is far more strategic than the hands-on work of his early years, focusing on aligning technology initiatives with the city’s business goals.

“I’m not on the field anymore,” he says, “but I’m coaching. Success now is seeing the team identify problems, tackle challenges, and deliver solutions that make a difference for the community.”

That strategic focus is reflected in his ongoing commitment to education. Lee holds ITIL certifications, earned the Certified Government Chief Information Officer designation from the University of North Carolina in 2019, and has completed leadership courses at Harvard Kennedy School, including programs on emerging technologies and artificial intelligence. He is currently enrolled at Purdue University pursing a Master of Business and Technology (MBT) degree. In his view, a continuous learning mindset is essential for leaders in today’s fast-moving technology landscape.

Blending Technological Capability with Community Benefit

The past few years have seen Lewisville roll out a series of digital initiatives that demonstrate how Lee’s approach blends technological capability with community benefit. One such project allows residents to monitor their water consumption via a mobile app, encouraging conservation and compliance with local watering schedules. “The days of watering on no-water days and nobody knowing about it are over,” Lee says, noting the sustainability benefits.

Artificial intelligence has become a significant focus. The city’s “CityBot” provides residents with 24/7 messaging, and a new AI-driven crime analysis tool has automated what used to be hours of daily work for police analysts. The system processes unstructured data from old and new reports, summarizes the information, and links it to the city’s master address table, enhancing officer awareness and safety. Lee estimates the tool saves two to three hours per day for each analyst.

Public safety technology continues to evolve as well. Lee has overseen three major software refreshes in this area, each one increasing capabilities such as license plate recognition and the integration of drone applications. In transportation, the city’s predictive traffic system has grown from a pilot program to a full corridor implementation, improving travel times, reducing congestion, and lowering emissions. Lee is excited about the potential opportunity this year to utilize air quality monitors on all streetlight assets to provide another data point for smart city initiatives.

Identifying Big Moves

Technology is also transforming the city’s physical spaces. Advances in 5G connectivity have allowed Lewisville to provide Wi-Fi not just in major parks but also in smaller pocket parks and along trailheads, without relying solely on fiber connections. The city’s move to a fully Zoom-based unified communications system during the pandemic has permanently changed how it conducts business, a change Lee admits he would not have anticipated just a few years ago.

Underpinning all these initiatives is a deliberate alignment with the city’s long-term strategy. Lewisville’s 2025 plan, developed through extensive public input and later updated, serves as a roadmap for projects and priorities. The city is now working on its 2035 plan with the same approach, engaging residents, setting clear expectations, and identifying “big moves” that will guide decision-making.

In Lee’s department, projects are evaluated using a rubric that ties directly to these strategic goals. The process starts with the business issue, ensuring alignment with community values before determining whether technology is the right solution and, if so, which technology fits best. “Everybody wants to jump to AI,” he says, “but sometimes AI isn’t the best answer.”

The Idea of Perpetual Optimism

Performance is measured through key metrics, including annual CIO diagnostic surveys that gather feedback from the city’s executive team across 13 performance categories. The results help the department identify where it excels and where it needs to improve. For Lee, transparency and responsiveness to both leadership and community are essential to delivering technology that truly adds value.

When it comes to leadership, Lee believes the job is as much about inspiring purpose as it is about managing resources. He draws inspiration from Colin Powell’s “13 Rules,” particularly the idea of perpetual optimism. “‘It can be done’ is not a guarantee of success but a mindset that motivates teams to push forward,” he says.

He also stresses the importance of empathy as the bridge between technology and people. In his view, leaders must be as capable of following as they are of leading, and they must align individual purpose with organizational vision to achieve the best results.

Lee is careful about how he uses his time, recognizing that leaders are constantly pulled in many directions. He likens leadership style to weather, saying leaders can bring storms or good weather, and people will respond accordingly. In city government, he notes, you are always part of something larger than yourself. That means supporting others when it is their turn to lead, and fully committing to the mission even when the chosen path differs from your personal preference.

From his early days as a quiet systems engineer to his current role shaping Lewisville’s digital future, Lee’s career has been defined by a balance of technical skill, strategic thinking, and human connection. “Technology might be why you got into the field,” he says, “but empathy is what connects you to the people you serve.”

It is that combination of vision, adaptability, and purpose that has allowed Chris Lee to not only keep pace with technology’s rapid evolution but also ensure it serves the greater good of his community. In Lewisville, the impact is visible in smarter infrastructure, more responsive services, and a city that uses technology not just for efficiency, but for connection.

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